


Our Youth in Spring

by Yoonki_397



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23647819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoonki_397/pseuds/Yoonki_397
Summary: Mingyu meets his soulmate at 16.
Relationships: Kim Mingyu/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Lee Seokmin/Yoon Jeonghan (mentioned)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 93
Collections: First Love Late Spring





	Our Youth in Spring

**Author's Note:**

> For clarity:  
> -Not sure if it's super clear but every scene in the story takes place in spring, between April and May  
> -Soulmates can be platonic or romantic  
> -Soul Marks are usually for romantic partners, and other identifiers (literally any other soulmate trope) are usually for platonic partners

At 16, Mingyu meets his soulmate.

He’s standing in the middle of a crowded rehearsal room, one much bigger than the room he's spent the last two years training in. It’s the beginning of spring, a week or two after his birthday, when the weather is finally settling into being warm enough for him to wear his summer uniform without a jacket. Maybe his bare arms are the reason why he’s suddenly hyper aware of the mark on his left wrist, the small arrangement of three petal-like shapes that seem to fall down his forearm towards his elbow. 

Or maybe it’s the way the room suddenly fills with color as he meets eyes with a shorter boy entering the room. 

He’s known that he would finally be able to see colour once he met his soulmate. He’d been tested as a child and knew his color blindness was linked to finding his soulmate, an extra marker for him to help in the search. He knew that at least visually he’d suddenly be in a new world once he met his other half, but he hadn’t anticipated the way he’d feel. 

He didn’t account for how his heart would bang against his ribs as his eyes followed the boy entering the room, the way his breath would catch in his throat as he got closer to him, or the heat he could feel bloom on his cheeks as the other stopped right in front of him. 

The word “pretty” was the only thing that came to Mingyu’s mind as he took the other boy in.

He is much shorter than Mingyu, the other boy’s head only reaching up to his shoulder as he stops in front of him, head tilted up to look at Mingyu in the eyes. His cheeks are so round, contrasted by the sharpness of his jaw and eyes. For the first time in his life Mingyu is able to tell what the pink on someone’s cheeks look like, and it’s almost so enchanting that he doesn’t realise that he’s being spoken to.

“Can you move?”

His voice is so deep, his pronunciation slightly accented. Again, all Mingyu can think about is how nice it sounds, even as the other boy clicks his tongue and pushes past him. Mingyu turns with movement, watching the other boy grab a mic from the table Mingyu hadn’t realised he was standing in front up. 

When he turns around, Mingyu is able to read the text on the t-shirt he’s wearing under his clearly oversized hoodie. It reads “Jihoon” in big block letters, exactly like the shirt he was given to wear with his own name on it. It makes something in Mingyu’s chest pang to have a name to match to the face of his soulmate, even if that face is currently taking him in with disinterest. 

Jihoon gives him a once over, almost sizing him up, and pauses on Mingyu’s left wrist. 

He’s never felt self conscious of his soul mark, never feeling the need to cover it in public like so many of his classmates did, but as Jihoon expression starts to turn almost annoyed, he feels the need to hide it as much as he can with his hand as Jihoon clicks his tongue and pushes past him again.

____

By the time he’s 17, Mingyu begins to learn how to live with a soulmate.

People always told him that finding your soulmate was like finding your other half, like discovering a part of yourself you hadn’t realised that you’d been missing. If you asked Mingyu now what he thought about that, he’d say it’s only half true.

In the same way Mingyu has had to learn how to see the world in full colour, he also had to figure out how to move through life with Jihoon. It was a lot like acquiring a stutter suddenly after speaking perfectly fine your entire life. You stumbled, made mistakes, hesitated to express yourself, but you got used to it.

For the most part, spending time with Jihoon came easily. They moved together in the way people always said soulmates did. He could tell what the older boy was thinking, when he was tired after vocal practice or annoyed with how loud the younger trainees were being, without Jihoon ever saying anything. Jihoon did the same in his own way, encouraging him quietly after weekly evaluations with just a single glance at his face. They worked so well together, so much to the point that Mingyu couldn’t think of what his future would be like without the other. 

Even with the amount of time they spent together, even with the closeness he felt, being with Jihoon made Mingyu feel uncertain. There was still a wall between them that Mingyu could feel, something that allowed them to be friends but nothing more. Nothing like the way he the panging of his heart tells him he wants them to. It could be the weight of being soulmates that hangs over their heads, or maybe that’s just from Mingyu’s perspective. They’ve never actually talked about it. The entire year they’ve known each other, Mingyu hasn’t once been able to bring himself to tell Jihoon about knowing they were soulmates. Part of it was the way Jihoon always wore long sleeves that covered his wrists, even on the days they weren’t filming for Seventeen TV when all the trainees usually hid their marks. There was clearly something about soulmates that made Jihoon feel uneasy, 

“Seokmin-ah,” Mingyu asks one afternoon as they’re getting ready for dance practice, “how did you know Jeonghan-hyung was your soulmate?”

Seokmin looks up from tying his shoes, expression confused from what he sees of it in the corner of his eye.

“Other than the fact that we have the same Soul Mark?” Seokmin’s tone is just as confused as his expression, “or do you mean how did I know I liked him and not Soonyoung-hyung?”

A lot of the other trainees had soulmates, most of them platonic but not all. Seungcheol and Joshua always seemed to know what the other was thinking. Junhui and Minghao treated each other like long lost brothers, the crescents on their hands often pressed together reassuringly after dance practice on the way back to their dorms. Mingyu wasn’t sure what was happening with Seungkwan and Vernon. They spent an equal amount of time bickering loudly across the practice room, and quietly sitting side to side, hand in hand, so they could go either way. 

Seokmin was a unique case.

He was the only person Mingyu had met in real life who had two soulmates, a romantic partner in Jeonghan and a platonic match in Soonyoung. He had a Soul Mark for each person which was rare in itself, and he was equally close to each of them, but somehow could tell the difference in his feelings for both boys without the confusion Mingyu himself felt just having one. If anyone could help Mingyu understand what he was feeling towards Jihoon, he’s hoping that Seokmin could. 

Seokmin takes another moment to think, finishing tying his shoe and moving to the next, turning his head to look at Mingyu for a moment. Mingyu continues to look down at his shoes. Seokmin decides to do the same.

“I just kind of...knew, you know? I love them both, obviously. Soonyoung-hyung is so much fun to be around, we get along so well and there’s never a dull moment when we’re together, but with Jeonghan-hyung…” Seokmin pauses, and Mingyu finally looks at him. 

Even just seeing his profile, Mingyu could only describe Seokmin’s expression as content. There’s a softness in his eyes and to the curve of his lips as he thinks of what next to say. It’s like he’s sorting through his thoughts and trying to settle on the perfect way to describe Jeonhan. Mingyu wonders if he looks the same when he talks about Jihoon to his mom, if he looks as happy as Seokmin does recounting the way Jihoon laughed at a bad joke he’d made. 

“We just understand each other. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who understood me so well, or that I understood so well. He’s never been annoyed or angry at me for being loud or distracted,” Seokmin looks up from his shoes and turns to look at him, “He’s the only person who takes me seriously.”

His tone is so earnest, his eyes so much brighter and open now that he’s facing Mingyu head on. His words hit Mingyu like a punch in the gut, the weight of Seokmin’s honesty almost knocking the breath out of his for a moment.

____

They debut a month after he turns 18. 

Something about being able to finally stand on stage and perform for an audience, to hear fans cheer them on and to get praise from their sunbaes makes Mingyu feel brave enough to decide that it’s time to talk to Jihoon about what he feels. 

The timing for the first week after they debut never seems to work out. They’re always backstage among the members, or preparing for an interview or exhausted heading back to the dorms to sleep before waking up to repeat the process all over again. There’s never a chance for him to take Jihoon aside and say everything that’s been building up in his heart for the past two years. 

Mingyu starts to think that maybe it’s a sign that confessing is a bad idea, until they’re finally given two weeks off after promotions. Their company seemed to have planned it so that the timing matches up with spring break at most of their schools which they’re all grateful for. None more than Mingyu. 

Knowing that Jihoon isn’t likely to head back to Busan for the short break, Mingyu asks him if he’d like to sleep over at his family’s home instead of the dorm one night. Jihoon agrees without much fight, they settle on a day and Mingyu lets his parents know he’s bringing a friend over. 

The reality of what he’s planning to do doesn’t hit him until they’re both on the train after school heading to Anyang. The car is empty enough that Jihoon decides he’s okay with holding Mingyu’s hand instead of any of the safety rails, linking the fingers of his free hand with Mingyu’s while he plays on his phone. Mingyu tries to remind himself that holding hands isn’t a big deal for them, even if Mingyu can’t remember them ever doing it in public. He can feel his hand start to sweat as the jingle for their station plays over the overheard system. 

The walk from the station to the apartment he grew up in isn’t longer than five minutes, even with them stopping at the closest GS25 to pick up ramyeon and snacks. When they get upstairs and inside, the apartment is empty. It’s early enough in the afternoon that Mingyu’s parents are still at work and his sister is still at school so it makes sense that they’d be the only ones there.

That doesn’t stop Mingyu from realising this is the first time the two of them have ever really been alone together since they’ve met. No members or management. Just Mingyu and Jihoon. Sitting in his old bedroom. Alone.

He tries to busy himself, tidying up their shoes in the entrance way and emptying their GS25 bag on the kitchen table. He can hear himself speaking, telling some rambling story about a time in middle school he ate five ice cream cones, got sick and the Ahjumma they met at the convenience store scolded him, but his focus is fully on keeping the sound of his heart banging against his ribs quiet. 

Jihoon doesn’t tell him to stop, he just leans against the counter and watches as Mingyu picks up and rearranges the five items one the table in front of him. After watching him pick up and put down the same bag of chips twice in a row, Jihoon reaches out to stop him, placing his hand on Mingyu’s shoulder and pulling him away from the table. 

“You promised me a movie, let’s go.”

________

They end up sitting on the floor in his bedroom, Jihoon leaning against his side as a ghibli movie they’ve both seen before plays on Mingyu’s laptop. His head is laid on Mingyu’s shoulder as he hums along to the OST playing in the scene. Mingyu tries to pay attention to what’s happening on screen, but all he can focus on is the way he can feel his hand is wrapped around Mingyu’s wrist, fingertips almost grazing against his Soul Mark as he unconsciously drums his fingers to the beat. 

“Hyung,” Mingyu asks under his breath, pausing the movie to make sure he has the other’s attention. Jihoon looks up, meeting Mingyu’s eye. Their faces are close enough that Mingyu can feel Jihoon’s breath on his lips. He tries not to let it distract him, clearing his throat and leaning back to put some distance between them.

“Hyung, I…” He clears his throat and starts again, leaning back to put more distance between them, “ I think I like you.” He tries to keep his voice from wavering, but still mumbles through the last few words.

Jihoon’s face almost immediately turns bright pink. His cheeks and the tips of his ears flush as he pulls his knees up to his chest and tries to curl into himself to hide the smile he’s trying to fight back from spreading across his face. Mingyu knew his hyung was shy, but if he had known Jihoon would react like this, so cute and bashful, he would have confessed years ago.

Jihoon keeps his face hidden in his arms a moment longer before peeking the top of his head out to look at Mingyu. The apples of his cheeks are still pink and his voice is muffled as he asks, “Are you sure?”

Mingyu thinks it’s a weird question to ask all things considered but he answers honestly, “Yeah, of course. I’ve liked you since the day I met you.”

“Oh my god, Mingyu!” Jihoon’s cheeks get redder before they’re hidden by the hoodie he pulls over his head. 

The older boy spends what must be close to a full minute and a half hiding in his oversized hoodie, groaning like he’s been physically wounded by Mingyu’s confession. Despite the dramatics, which Mingyu finds to be painfully cute himself, he hasn’t punched Mingyu or gotten up to leave so he takes this as a good sign. 

When Jihoon decides he’s had enough time to process his thoughts he relaxes his legs so they’re stretched straight in front of him and let’s his arm relax at his sides, turning his head to face Mingyu. He keeps the hood on, and the way the hem of it hangs down covering his forehead makes him seem so much younger than he is. 

“I like you too, Gyu.”

His voice is so quiet that Mingyu almost misses what he says. The words take a second to register and then Mingyu can feel his own face heat up. He gives Jihoon a small smile, one that the older boy returns, and moves to sit closer to him. He places his hand atop Jihoon’s, tucking his fingers under the hem of his cuff and inching them towards his hyung’s wrist.

“What are you doing?” Jihoon asks, sounding hesitant. Mingyu can’t understand why but explains himself anyway, leaning back and away from Jihoon again. 

“I just thought that since we both like each other, that it wouldn’t be a big deal. Can’t I see your Soul Mark?”

Jihoon’s face immediately falls, expression twisting like Mingyu had slapped him in the face. He pulls his arm towards his chest and moves even further away from Mingyu, like he’s afraid Mingyu will grab him and pull his sleeves up and look for himself. 

“Why would you ask me that? What difference does it make what mark is on my stupid arm? Would you like me any less if you found out we weren’t ‘meant to be’?” Jihoon sounds so angry and hurt, his voices raising and pronunciation slipping in and out of his Busan accent with the speed he spits out the questions. 

“Hyung, I’m-”

“Why is shit like this so important to everyone, when all it does is weigh everything down. Can’t we just be happy without knowing?” Jihoon’s eyes are wet with unshed tears. He’s struggling to appear angry even as tears start to spill down his cheeks. 

He’s afraid. 

For the first time in the three years they’ve known each other, Jihoon is openly afraid of something. 

He’s afraid of Mingyu. 

  
Suddenly a lot of things seem to click. The way Jihoon always hid his Soul Mark, how uncomfortable he got when the other members teased him about his lyrics never talking about soulmates. How he and Mingyu were close but never _too_ close.

“Jihoon, I have to tell you something.”

  
  
“What?” Jihoon’s tone is clipped and defensive, even though the look in his eyes shows clearly how hurt he is. 

“When I was younger, I was colourblind. I couldn’t tell the difference between something that was red or green and something that wasn’t. Even now I can’t a lot of the time,” he tries to sell the statement as a joke. Jihoon keeps quiet. “Uh, anyway: I was colorblind. My parents had me tested when I was 5 or 6 to see if they could figure out what caused it since I was the only person in my family who couldn’t see colours. It took forever to figure out and I felt so dumb trying to figure out the difference between apples, cause they’re all the same, but in the end it turns out it wasn’t a gene thing...it was a soulmate thing...”

Mingyu can hear himself start to ramble and tries to stop himself from beating around the bush too much. 

“To get to the point, I’ve lived my entire life until I was 16 without seeing color. That’s when I met you,” he can hear Jihoon's breath catch in his throat but powers through, “From the moment I saw you, I’ve known we were soulmates, and I’m really sorry I never said anything. I was just so confused and afraid that you wouldn’t feel the same way I felt and that we were only supposed to be platonic partners. But just like how I’ve had to relearn how to see the world, I’ve had to rethink the way I see soulmates.”

Mingyu reaches out to take Jihoon's left hand slowly, giving his hyung enough time to pull away, and lacing their fingers together when he doesn’t.

They take a moment to just look at each other. For the first time Mingyu thinks he’s really looking at Jihoon. Not the trainee he spent years fighting to debut with, or Woozi, the singer and songwriter he worked with but Lee Jihoon. The eighteen year old boy who held his hand as they walked home from school. The boy he’d fallen in love with.

“I don’t care if we’re meant to be or not. I don’t care to just be friends. I don’t care about any of that. I like you, Jihoon, I’ve always liked you, for you. Not because the universe told me to like you, but because you’ve become my favourite person. Nothing is going to change that for me okay?”

There’s a beat and then suddenly Mingyu's arms are full of Jihoon. He tucks his head into his dongsaeng’s neck as Mingyu wraps his free arm around him. Mingyu can feel the collar of his shirt dampen, and he tries to soothe Jihoon by running his thumb across the back of the hand he’s still holding.

“I’m sorry,” Mingyu says the apology into the top of Jihoon’s head, lips pressing into his hair as a punctuation, “I won’t ask about your Soul Mark again. You don’t ever have to show it to me if you don’t want to.”

Jihoon pulls back and looks at Mingyu. His cheeks are flushed and wet with tears, and Mingyu hates that even now he can’t but think that Jihoon looks pretty. His eyes flick from Jihoon’s eyes to his lips, and Jihoon does the same before leaning in and closing the gap between them.

The kiss is timid, just a gentle press of lips against one another. It’s not like Mingyu has any experience with kissing, but there’s something about the way their lips move against each other that he knows is going to stick in his mind forever. 

Mingyu follows the feeling of Jihoon’s hand running through the hair at the nape of his neck, then as it moves down his chest towards the hand that is still holding his own. Jihoon unlaces their fingers and places Mingyu’s hand on the cuff of his sweatshirt. He doesn’t realise the other is pushing up his sleeve until Mingyu feels bare skin beneath his finger tips.

He pulls back from the kiss with a start. On Jihoon’s right wrist is a small arrangement of three petal-like shapes that seem to fall down his forearm towards his elbow mirroring the same marks he has on his own. 

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/Agust_Yoonki) if you want :)


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